 A Symposium on Hunger and Markets in a Time of Crises International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) April 24, 2009 Sponsored by the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Cornell Institute for Public Affairs (CIPA). Hosted at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) “No single solution to [the] … food policy dilemma is likely to emerge for all societies, but the underlying importance of markets as a key to all the solutions is being recognized.” - C. Peter Timmer et al., Food Policy Analysis, 1983 “[W]ithout development of supporting institutions, the free market remains nothing but a flea market[:] … no placement of order, no invoicing or payment by check, no credit, and no warranty. - Marcel Fafchamps, Market Institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2004 “Progress in reducing hunger is now being eroded by the worldwide increase in food prices.” - United Nations, Millennium Development Goals Report 2008, 2008 Overview The hungry poor have a precarious relation with markets. They rely on it for buying food, selling their products and earning incomes. Markets can be important vehicles for development and hunger alleviation. However, markets can also play a role in perpetuating hunger. For many vulnerable households who are stuck in a hunger-poverty trap, the opportunities created by markets remain elusive. Employing the World Food Programme’s World Hunger Series 2009 – Hunger and Markets as a reference document, this symposium drew upon multiple perspectives from scholarship and practice to explore the complex relations between markets and hunger. Panel discussions articulated concrete policy recommendations and actions around market-based priority areas advanced by WFP in the concluding chapter of the World Hunger Series: • Incorporate food market dynamics into hunger alleviation initiatives: An understanding of markets is crucial for understanding the drivers of hunger and vulnerability and for designing responses. • Support food markets with targeted investments in institutions and infrastructure: Governments should support markets with appropriate incentives, infrastructure and institutions. • Improve access to complementary markets: Access to labour markets and secure financial services is critical in efforts to reduce hunger and poverty. • Use the power of markets to transform market dependency into opportunities: The potential for generating income can be harnessed by improving access to agricultural inputs and value chain innovations. Innovations such as Purchase for Progress can address the constraints of the hungry poor by providing possibilities for low-income farmers to improve their connections to markets. • Reduce market-based risks and vulnerabilities and safeguard markets: The risk of market failure or inefficiency can be reduced by improving the monitoring of food prices and trade flows, establishing risk management frameworks and facilitating markets during relief and recovery operations. • Invest in social protection measures that reduce risk and vulnerabilities and complement markets: Programmes to protect the most vulnerable populations are critical. Insurance, vouchers and cash transfers and other market-based social protection measures should accompany growth strategies and market policies. • Invest more in nutrition and differently in agriculture: Smallholder agriculture needs the support of investments, including in research, rural infrastructure and storage systems. These measures should be complemented by cost-effective investments in nutrition, including in affordable nutritious food products. • Ensure that trade supports food security: Trade and food security policies need to be made more consistent. Reducing export restrictions and ensuring exemption of humanitarian food are important parts of this effort. • Engage international and domestic actors in the fight against hunger: Official development assistance and international and domestic public-private partnerships involving governments, the private sector and civil society are important in supporting emergency interventions. Media PowerPoint Slides Presented at the Symposium:
Cornell Institute for Public Affairs www.cipa.cornell.edu World Food Programme www.wfp.org Host International Food Policy Research Institute www.ifpri.org |
